


The culture of falling in love

by MakuTheSpaceArtist



Category: Wanna One (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drinking, Friends to Lovers, Heavy Drinking, M/M, Misunderstandings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-29 04:56:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakuTheSpaceArtist/pseuds/MakuTheSpaceArtist
Summary: It's not like Daniel didn't consider the possibility before. There were times where he was lying down in his bed, staring at the ceiling, coming up with scenarios of how this situation makes him even more miserable. Something in the back of his head was telling him all the time that this day would come.It's still one of the worst thing he's felt in his 21-years long life, when he sees the boy he's in love with falling for someone else.





	The culture of falling in love

**Author's Note:**

> There are a few things that I have to set straight before I start this fanfic.  
> -I have no clue how it's gonna end. The endgame ship? Still don't know.  
> -There most likely won't be any scheduled posts, but I'll try to do my best to post regularly. Please firgive me if I don't.  
> -The story is unbeta'd and English isn't my first language.  
> -They're not in South Korea(so no, no 'hyung' and stuff), they're not in the US. They're Somewhere™. The whole university experience is based on a Polish uni because I'm Polish and that's something I actually know. I don't want to base it on someone else's culture cause I feel like I'd fail terribly.  
> -Tags will be added as I write, because as I said, I have no idea where this is going!
> 
> The first chapter is quite on the shorter side, hope that's okay.
> 
> I really hope you'll enjoy the story♥

It's not like Daniel didn't consider the possibility before. There were times where he was lying down in his bed, staring at the ceiling, coming up with scenarios of how this situation makes him even more miserable. Something in the back of his head was telling him all the time that this day would come.

 

It's still one of the worst thing he's felt in his 21-years long life, when he sees the boy he's in love with falling for someone else.

 

-

 

Daniel knew Jimin long enough to notice it fairly quickly. It wasn't really for the way the smaller boy started to get hyped every time lunch time was approaching and they were going to the cafeteria. It wasn't also for the way he suddenly decided that from now on he's going to attend basically every single party that was happening in and out of the campus. Even the way he was changing haircolors literally all the time (which ended up with Daniel buying him a ton of hair masks and conditioners after Jimin came back home with a different haircolor 3 times in a _week,_ because as cute as Jimin was the image of him going bald soon didn't sit well with anyone) wasn't the biggest indicator.

It was the way Jimin suddenly got so interested in how his friends were getting their partners.

“I'm pretty sure you asked me the same thing literally yesterday Minie” Taehyung said, while giving his smaller friend a questioning look. Jimin squirmed a little in his seat.

“I know I did, but still...” he whined loudly, gifting the redhead with his puppy eyes “The way you got Soojin to go out with you so soon is still so fascinating to me. I mean, she didn't really give a chance to any other guy at uni before, did she?”

“I'm just an extremely charming human being” Tae answered matter of factly, which made everyone around the table roll their eyes in unison. He scowled “You're all the worst!”

“You're just full of yourself, sweetcheeks” Tae gave the stink eye to Chungha, who just continued to slurp on her smoothie with a satisfied smirk on her face. Both of them started talking over each other, Taehyung trying to get her to take it all back. Daniel felt Jimin lean over the table closer to him, staring intensly at the remaining half of the younger's smoothie. He pushed it wordlessly towards the smaller boy next to him, still not understanding why he won't take it himself. Daniel was always leaving half of his smoothie for Jimin. It was an unspoken rule of theirs, yet the (currently) blonde boy always waited patiently for Daniel to give it to him.

“Chungha, please stop teasing Taehyung” came a sigh from Namjoon, who as always tried to keep the group of his younger friends in check. He completely ignored her saying that _'as a sister she's legally allowed to tease her brother'_. Whenever Jin was absent due to his work, he felt ten times more responsible of keeping the atmosphere as friendly as possible. “Anyway, Jimin, what's up with you lately? You've been drilling me and Jin about our first dates for the past few days too.”

Wooyoung looked up from the smartphone he was immersed in for the whole time they were at the cafeteria.

“Ooooh? What is it? Is our Jiminie trying to get some tips maybe?” he teased with a cheeky grin on his face. He was the youngest in their group of friends and he definitely acted like the biggest brat, never caring about the age differences and teasing his older friends whenever he had the chance. Jimin and Namjoon were his favorite preys, because their reactions were always the most entertaining to watch.

As if on cue Jimin started choking on the smoothie he was sipping and his face turned extremely red. Daniel would join in on the friendly laughter that took over their table, but the only thing he could feel at the moment was a pang of sadness. He ended up patting Jimin on the back, helping him stop the coughing.

“Wooyoung!” he squeeked cutely, throwing daggers at the youngest boy, who was cackling happily in his seat. “I'm just asking! Can't I show a little appreciation towards my friends' relationships?”

“Well...” Namjoon joined in in looking at Jimin with raised eyebrows. “You can of course, but you never cared this much before? So tell us, what's the deal.”

Suddenly five pairs of eyes were turned towards Jimin, everyone expecting an answer. Daniel would be lying if he said that he didn't know, but he still wanted to hear the other boy actually say it out loud. He gulped in nervouseness and waited.

Jimin started squirming in his seat once again, trying to make himself look smaller, hoping that the others will leave him alone. But a few moments passed and everyone was still staring at him intensly. He sighed deeply and covered his face in embarassement.

“TheresthistransferstudenthtatsreallycuteandIwanttoaskhimoutbutIdontknowhowto” he mumbled quickly and threw his head on the table. The rest of his friends looked at each other in confusion.

“Pardon?” Chungha chuckled, patting Jimin on the head comfortingly. “Love, you know that we couldn't hear a word you just said, right?”

“I said” the blonde boy mumbled, not picking his head up “That there's this cute boy... He's a transfer student and I want to ask him out. A lot. But I don't know how to.” he finished with a whine.

Taehyung and Wooyoung cooed loudly, Namjoon looked at Jimin with adoration, saying something about _“kids growing up fast”_ , while Chungha embraced Jimin tightly in a hug. Daniel was glad that no one payed attention to him, his frozen posture and fake smile plastered on his face.

He knew it, but it still made him feel miserable.

Kang Daniel was a really friendly guy. On the campus he was known as the lovely big guy, with the warmest smile, that almost everyone knew. _“The boy that freestyles on the broadside*”_ , _“The one that pushed Professor Hardin into the fountain”_ (Although it's the part of his student life that Daniel wishes everyone forgot. The whole situation was nothing more than an awful accident - it was dark, he was drunk and Professor Hardin was just in a bad place in a bad time. It's been 8 months and he was already forgiven, but he still apologizes to him every time they meet). He had the ability to make friends quickly, his positive and kind nature drawing people closer to him. That also made him one of the most popular guys romantic-wise. He doesn't mind the attention he gets from people most of the time, unless someone gets too pushy. Daniel made it quite obvious to anyone that knows him that he's not interested in any relationships.

And the reason for that is currently sitting in front of him, confessing that he'd like to go out with someone else.

Daniel might be a friendly guy, but there are things even his kind heart can't get through. And right now he'd like nothing more than to stand up and run out of the cafeteria as fast as possible. But he stays put and gives everyone the fakest smile he can muster.

“A transfer student? Do we know him maybe?” Wooyoung asks, his interest fully on Jimin now, the smartphone long forgotten. Daniel wonders if he's actually grateful that he started this topic, so now he got the confirmation he needed, or if it's the exact opposite. He's not sure.

“I don't know” comes a whine from the table. Next to him Chungha keeps petting his blonde locks, knowing that the boy needs as much comforting after the confession as possible. “You might? He has to catch up on the program, so he takes a little bit more classes than he should. I actually met him in my microeconomy lecture...”

“Love.” Chungha interrupted him with a sweet voice. “You're missing out the most important part. The name.”

It's silent for a while, Jimin probably considering if he should actually tell them or not. After a moment he picks up his head a little, only to put his chin on his arms crossed on the table.

“Jeon Jungkook.”

The table falls silent once again.

Then Taehyung, Wooyoung and Chungha start screaming at the same time, while Namjoon and Daniel stare at Jimin with huge eyes.

“Did you just say Jeon-”

“What do you even mean you met him in your microeconomy class?!”

“I have to text Ong, he's gonna lose it!”

“Here I was thinking you're into the calm type of guys...”

“Shut up!” Jimin yells, covering his eyes once again. Daniel is sure they have the whole cafeteria staring atthem right now, but he doesn't even care about it. He's just looking at Jimin wondering if he actually heard what he thinks he did.

It's not like he knows Jeon Jungkook personally, no. But probably everyone at uni heard about the guy. There's just this rule that if there's some nasty rumor about someone it'll probably get to everyone. The transfer student joined their university no longer than a month ago and immediately became the talk of the campus. It turned out that the guy was a son of one of the wealthiest CEOs in the country, which explained how he got accepted to their uni in the middle of the semester without a problem. The reason why he left his previous one still remained a mystery, which led to many nasty rumors spreading around the campus. Daniel wasn't one to believe in things that people say behind the back of the person in question, but it still caught him off guard to find out that the mysterious Jeon Jungkook of all people was the object of Jimin's affections.

“Can you all please start acting your age and stop screaming his name out loud?” Jimin looked at them all with mild annoyance. The others immediately composed themselves and leaned closer to Jimin over the table. Taehyung was the first one to start the interrogation.

“We're just all surprised! Who would've thought you're into the boys with secrets, Minie.”

“He's not a boy with secrets though. He's a normal person.” Jimin groaned in reply, rubbing his temples. “It's not his fault that people are spreading rumors about him...”

“Oh, we're already in the 'let me defend my bae' phase?” Wooyoung said jokingly. “You talk as if you know him quite well.”

“Well” the blonde boy titled his head and sighed. “I don't know him well at all. We talked like twice in the class. He was late and asked me for notes after the lecture, because I was the only one sitting next to him.”

“It's very cliché if you ask me” Chungha threw in.

“I'd say it's rather underwhelming” Taehyung added, pouting at the lack of actual interactions between the two. On the other handa Daniel couldn't help but feel better that Jimin and Jungkook are nothing but mere acquaintances. He scolded himself for thinking this way.

Namjoon reached out and patted Jimin comfortingly on the elbow.

“I'm guessing that's why you're having a hard time coming up with a way to ask him out, huh?” the smaller one nodded in defeat.

“You see, it would be so much easier if he didn't make me so awfuly shy. I literally shut down for a few seconds the next time he sat down next to me.” he said, staring blankly somewhere in the crowd. The image of his roommate malfunctioning during an encounter with his crush made Daniel chuckle quietly, even though it made him feel bitter at the same time. “So even though I wanted to I couldn't even bring myself to ask him for his number. Such a wasted opportunity. He probably won't sit next to me this week anyway. I had a chance and I lost it, because I couldn't just ask him for a damn number. A number would make everything so much easier. I could DM him on Instagram, but wouldn't it feel like I'm pushing myself onto him? Not to mention he would probably think I'm stalking him onlne. He would think I'm some kind of creep and then never talk to me again. And I just-”

“Jimin!” Taehyung interrupted him loudly. Jimin immediately snap his mouth shut. “Omg you actually have a crush. You always do this thing when you have a crush. Remember when you first met Wonho?” He started laughing loudly, joined by the others.

“Stop it, Tae!” Jimin finished his sentence with a slight punch to Tae's shoulder, but it did nothing to stop the laughter. The blonde boy just puffed his cheeks out and pretended to be angry at all of them.

“Well then. In my opinion it's easy. You have to get a grip and ask him for a number. And out on a date at the same time, wouldn't actually hurt.” the youngest of their group said, as if it's the easiest thing in the world. Jimin stared at him in bewilderment.

“You're crazy! I'm not even friends with him yet.” he squeaked.

“Why? It's not like it's weird to ask someone out even if you don't know them that well. Look at Taehyung and Seokjin. It's only Namjoon that took like what? 3 years to actually ask Eunbi out?”

The oldest face turned completely red at the mention of his girlfriend. In Daniel's opinion Namjoon's and Eunbi's relationship was one of the most mature (even though the girl didn't hide from anyone that she expected her boyfriend to ask her out much sooner), so he didn't see the way their relationship progressed as something negative. On the other hand were Taehyung and Seokjin. The younger asked Soojin out on a date after only two days and maximum three sentences exchanged. To everyone's surprise the girl said yes and soon after they became a couple. Jin broke this record, asking his current fiance to be his girlfriend on the same day they met. Irene, who was secretly crushing on the boy from afar agreed and it all led to their now 6-years old relationship.

It's just that Daniel couldn't see Jimin going the same route the other two boys did. He liked getting to know people well before he let them close to himself. That's why seeing him so involved in a boy that he barely met didn't really seem okay to him.

Or at least that's what Daniel wanted to believe.

“What do you think Niel?” he barely noticed the question that was aimed at him. He raised his eyebrow at Jimin, who was now staring at him with expectation. _“Go out on a date with me”_ went through his mind, but he immediately buried the thought deep inside.

“I think you should start with being friends with him first.” Daniel said, lowering his gaze to his hands, playing with his fork. He thought about what to say next and continued. “Considering that he sat down next to you again the second time and even spoke to you, it's pretty obvious to me he's gonna do this the next time too. I'm gonna be surprised if he doesn't. So you shouldn't worry about that. And just try to become his friend. This way it will be easier for you to ask him out later.”

“ _Your own experience says that it's a lie”_ said something in the back of his head.

Jimin hummed and after a few seconds gave Daniel the brightest smile.

“I'm gonna do my best!”

Daniel reciprocated the smile with a difficulty. He decided that now is the time to leave the place and clean his head a little. Technically speaking he just got his heart broken and he didn't know how long he can pretend that everything is okay.

“Right. I know you will. It's time for me to go now, though!” he said, standing up and picking up his tray. “Gonna see you later guys and remember that we're going grocery shopping after classes Jimin.”

The boys said their goodbyes to him and he left hurriedly, wanting to be gone already. When he reached the counter where he left his tray he heard someone calling his name and a few seconds later Chungha was clinging to his arm and walking out of the cafeteria with him.

“So.” she said, trying her best to slow down his walk. Daniel continued as if he didn't notice.

“So?” he asked, pretending he didn't know what she means.

“So what now loverboy. Are you actually gonna do something with your crush – wait, go back – with you being in love with Jimin, or are you just gonna let him go?” she was always straightforward to the point it hurt and right now that's exactly what Daniel felt.

“Chungha” he sighed defeatedly. “I don't know if you noticed but he's interested in someone. And that someone isn't me. So I don't think it's okay for me to interfere, especially right now.”

He took out his phone, deciding that the best way to relieve his stress is to go out on the broadside tonight. He sent a quick text to Seongwu, knwoing that if someone is going to agree to spend a night in the middle of uni week dancing, then it's gonna be his best friend.

“I know you're always the most righteous person in the whole world” the girl said, making Daniel roll his eyes “but I'm really done with seeing you so miserable. It's been years Daniel.”

Around a year ago they both got completely drunk during a party and Daniel ended up spending half of the night telling her the story of his love towards his roommate. For some reason he didn't remember anything, but Chungha being Chungha has this magical ability to remember everything that was said even when she's wasted. He thinks she would have guessed it anyway and he only confirmed his speculations, because this girl if one of the smartest and most perceptive people he's ever met.

“Yes it was years and during those years he never showed a hint of romantical feelings towards me” a pang from his phone informed him about Seongwu's reply. _“Sure, 10PM outside of my dorm”_.

“Maybe he didn't, but neither did- Oh my god, can you please slow down? You might have abnormally long legs that allow you to walk at lightning speed, but some people are normal sized!” she wheezed, pulling him hard to stop his walking. Daniel sighed and turned a little to face his friend. “You weren't actually _that_ obvious either. What if he actually changed his mind if you told him you have feelings for him?”

“I don't want him to _'change his mind'_. If anything were to happen between us I want it to happen because his mind was focused on me already.” she was opening her mouth to reply, but Daniel stopped her by bringing his hand up. “Look. I know you just want to do something good for me. But this isn't how I want things to go. I'd rather keep him as a friend and see him happy with someone he wants to be with.”

The blackhaired girl stared at him intensly, as if she tried to read what's actually in his mind. She probably did, which didn't even make him uncomfortable anymore. She finally dropped his arm from her tight grip and sighed.

“Whatever you decide to do. Just hope you won't regret it later. I'm gonna go now. Text me if you want to talk later.”

Daniel nodded even though he knew he won't be picking up the topic with her anytime soon. He watched her walk away in the other direction and then continued his walk towards the class.

 

 

It's not like Daniel didn't consider the possibility before. There were times where he was lying down in his bed, staring at the ceiling, coming up with scenarios of how his relationship with Jimin would be the best and most natural thing to happen. But something in the back of his head was telling him all the time that this day would never come.

 

And even though he knew that Jeon Jungkook and Park Jimin were nothing more than just acquaintances for now, he felt that the new boy is going to join their lives and turn them upside down.

 

**Author's Note:**

> *The main spot where students meet in their free time on campus to drink, busk, dance, etc. Called the broadside ever since one of the first Halloween parties, where for some reason most students came dressed as pirates.


End file.
